Percentage of U.S. workers who admit to wasting time at work, according to a study conducted by Salary.com: 63
Number of hours the average U.S. worker wastes in an 8.5-hour work day: 1.7
Ranks of personal Internet use, socializing with co-workers and conducting personal business among the activities most cited for wasting work hours: 1, 2, 3
Source: Salary.com
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Percentage of U.S. consumers who say their money will go before they do when they retire, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch: 64
Percentage who say they'll go before their money: 36
Source: BIGresearch
· · · · ·
Median tenure (in number of years) for U.S. public-sector workers over the age of 25, according to a study conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute: 7.0
Median tenure for private-sector workers: 3.9
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute.
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Ranks of firefighters, scientists, teachers, doctors and military officers as the occupations in the United States with the most prestige, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Ranks of real estate brokers, actors, bankers, accountants and entertainers among the occupations in the United States with the least prestige: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Source: Harris Interactive
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Number of vehicles produced worldwide in 2006, according to a study conducted by the WorldWatch Institute: 67 million
Number of years that annual car production has exceeded 67 million: 0
Percentage increase in car production in China between 2005 and 2006: 29
Source: WorldWatch Institute
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In 2002, percentage of companies that felt that prevention and wellness were the answer for companies wanting to cut health care costs, according to a survey by WFC Resources: 14
Percentage of companies that said they were focusing on prevention to cut health care costs in 2007: 60
Source: WFC Resources
· · · · ·
Percentage of employers who say their employees have high levels of stress, according to a study conducted by ComPsych: 45
Percentage of employees who say they suffer from high levels of stress: 60
Source: ComPsych Corp.
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Percentage of leisure travelers using hotels and airlines who book exclusively online, according to a study conducted by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell: 57
Percentage who said so in 2000: 18
Source: Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell
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Percentage of human resource professionals who say implementing a comprehensive and coherent Corporate Social Responsibility program enhances customer loyalty, according to a study by Sirota Survey Intelligence: 84
Percentage who say it attracts new customers: 80
Percentage who say it minimizes the costs and consequences of regulatory activist pressures: 65
Source: Sirota Survey Intelligence
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Percentage of business professionals who admit to logging on to social networking Web sites, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity: 65
Source: Institute for Corporate Productivity
John MacIntyre has been writing Figuratively Speaking since 1989. You can contact him by e-mail at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.